The ORIGINAL Flying Colours
by R. Apps and C. Russell
Summary: At the beginning of world war four, five girls are inadvertantly pulled into the future where they meet, you guessed it! The G-boys, however life in this new world is not exactly paradise now is it? (1+2 3+4, just ignore warning in first chapter. )
1. Chapter 1

**Authors' notes: **This story was inspired by what you could call real life, I know, talk about weird but that's how it goes. *shrug* As you may or may not have guessed, this will be co-written between the two of us. Part one is written by me, (d_d_duley) And chapter two by Admiral Albia, any mistakes on our part are not deliberate. 

**Disclaimer:** If we owned Gundam wing I think we'd be two happy girls, since we don't we're not exactly what you'd call _unhappy_ but still, it'd make as happier to own the boys!

**General notes:** Right, for those of you that usually read my fics (d_d_duley) you will be shocked to know something. This will not contain shouen ai of any form. I know! Think how hard this is going to be for me to write…

**Warnings:** No pairings as such, we're not even sure if there will be, just generally insanity and hopefully humour.

THERE WILL BE MENTION OF THE G-BOYS, BUT NOT UNTIL LATE INTO THE CHAPTER!!

**_Whatever you do, I'll do it too,_**

**_Show me everything and tell me how,_**

**_It all means something,_**

**_And yet nothing to me._**

****

**_I can see there's so much to learn,_**

**_It's all so close,_**

**_And yet so far,_**

**_I see myself as people see me,_**

**_Oh I just know there's something bigger_**

**_Out there…_**

****

****

 "Auburns!" The loud yell echoed through the gymnasium as a large lady strode through the crowds of sweating trainees. "How many times have I told you not to do that!" She came to a stop breathing slightly heavily in front of a tall girl who was swinging by her hands from a bar.

"Do what Miss Jacks?" The said 'Auburns' asked, fake innocence dripping from her voice as she regarded the coach with calm eyes.

"That…" Miss Jacks was obviously at a loss for words as she glared at the impassive Auburns. Making a huge effort the grey-haired woman calmed herself slightly before continuing. "I have asked you time and time again Miss Auburns, not to do handstands on the parallel bars, it is incredibly dangerous and you could damage the equipment!" Veins began standing out in her neck as she finished the sentence, obviously using up her last ounce of patience for the day. "Now, do you have anything to say?"

Auburns looked at the floor, scuffing one cloth covered foot along a dusty trail of chalk left by the last user of the parallel bars. "Well…yes Miss, I do, why is it that you're more concerned about the parallel bars than one of your trainees?" Brown eyes flecked with green and gold shards looked into tired black ones before they resumed their scrutiny of the dust. 

Miss Jacks mouth opened and closed for a couple of seconds before she found the right words to express herself. "Auburns…" She said, voice the sort of calm you only achieve by going through rage and somewhere out the other side, "You are a trainee in this academy, you will not be here for long, it is very likely you will not survive your first battle, but the equipment will remain for more trainees to come and learn on. Therefore it is more important than you…_do I make myself clear?_"       

Auburns sighed slightly before looking up again, eyes now sparkling with a hidden humour. "_Yes_ Miss Jacks."

Miss Jacks gritted her teeth, "as punishment, I want twenty five press ups from you right now." The training mistress announced, "Go."

*******************

"Twenty four…twenty five. Finished!" Auburns jumped to her feet in time to see her four best friends running over. 

"Hey Rain, what'cha do _this _time?" Asked one, blue eyes shining as she pulled her long black hair back into a ponytail. "Miss Jacks nearly had steam coming out of her ears as she walked past."

Another one snorted, green eyes showing quiet amusement behind her glasses as she flipped her long chestnut plait over one shoulder, fiddling with the ends. "Steam coming out of her ears is an understatement. She looked like she was about to erupt!"

Rain grinned, looking at her four companions, "Ahh, she just hates me because I butcher the gym equipment." She winked, pulling on a pair of grey jogging bottoms over the black pair of spandex shorts, before grabbing a pair of trainers and slinging them over one shoulder so they dangled by the laces.

"My guess was you got into trouble for using the parallel bars 'incorrectly' again didn't you Rain?" asked another, tucking her shoulder-length black hair behind her ears as she regarded the sweating Rain with black eyes. "Am I right?"

"Bet she is!" Joined in a fourth, laughing her head off at the thought of Miss Jacks reaction to the usually sarcastic Rain, "What did you say this time Rain? Come on! Tell us, did she get really, really mad?"

"She can't have been more mad than the day she found us all in the staff swimming pool in our nightgowns." Chuckled the plaited one, "Although if I remember correctly _that_ was your plan as well ne?"

"Well _you_ didn't have to go along with it Charamei," Rain said, acting as though she were highly insulted, "But if _I_ remember correctly, you were the one checking the time tables to make sure there were no teachers on patrol that evening."

"Well…" Charamei grinned again, "It sounded like fun!"

"Who would have thought…our little Charamei…a prize one plotter!" Exclaimed the blonde headed girl, slinging her arms around Charamei's shoulder as she fought to retain the giggles, which kept bubbling up.

"Ah shut up Crystal." Charamei grinned, "You played as big a part as me in that particular scheme…" She trailed off as a group of boys walked past, talking loudly.

"I know, thank God it's our last week, I honestly can't believe they let _girls_ enrol in this academy."

"Yeah, females are so weak, how would they ever be able to pilot a jet ski, let alone a Harrier GR7?" a second boy snickered, shooting a nasty glance at the five girls standing close by. 

Rain and Crystal started forwards but were stopped by Charamei and Dana. "Don't." Charamei said quietly, "Just let it lie, we've got one more week of the idiots and then we're out of here, put up with them, it's not worth fighting over a couple of snide remarks."

Elenbay nodded in agreement, short black hair swinging down again from behind her ears. "Listen to the woman, she speaks sense."

Rain gritted her teeth, eyes shooting sparks in the direction of the distant group of boys, "I just can't stand how they think women are so weak, haven't we beat them in training and class? Haven't we kicked their asses when we got into fights with them?"

The other four nodded in agreement but said nothing, except Crystal. "Don't you just wish for once…something drastic could happen, something that would give us the chance to prove ourselves?" her light blue eyes sparked slightly as she became caught up in her fantasy that she described to the other girls. "We'd have our own Harrier's and we'd prove to everyone once and for all, women aren't weak!"

Rain smiled, all traces of anger gone as she watched her best friend chatter about what she'd do with her own GR7. shaking her head slightly, causing the short, brown, spiky hair to brush her collar she grabbed hold of Elenbay and Charamei. "Come on, I'm starved, let's grab something from the mess hall."

Turning she glanced over her shoulder at Dana, "Coming?"

"Yeah!"

"…And I'd beat everyone else in battle, people would FEAR me…HEY!!!" Crystal ran to catch up with her friends, punching Dana on the arm, why'd you leave me behind?"

Charamei listened to the other four squabbling about who'd left who behind and smiled slightly. Still…she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like in a week's time, would they have their own planes? Would they be called to fight? Rumour had it that war was once again imminent and she wanted to be at the front with the action.

_I wish…_ she thought with a sudden surge of despair, _I wish we COULD pilot our own planes, with comrades we respected to back us up…rather than those idiots in our year…wouldn't it be nice?_

Be careful what you wish for, it may come true…

******************

"Fame…I'm gonna live forever…fame…" Rain sang, dancing along to her headphones as she brushed her teeth. Bouncing back into the other room she continued to sing in a loud voice, unaware that the other four occupants of the room were asleep.

"Rain will you shut up?" Dana muttered, sticking her head out from under the covers as she blinked blearily a couple of times, normally neat black hair mussed beyond belief.

"Yah…shut UP Rain." Crystal joined in the conversation as usual, "Look, we were asleep until you started warbling in the shower like a cat with a sore throat."

"What? You don't like my singing?" Rain asked, "Even if I have the best voice of all of us?" 

"You only have the best voice of all of us because you're the only one who can sing on key." Muttered Charamei, "And even your voice isn't what I'd call particularly pleasant at…" She paused, blinking blearily at the digital alarm clock "…six in the morning."

"Why are you up so early?" Elenbay asked, yawning as she sat up, scratching the side of her head. 

"Because it's the last day silly!" Rain giggled, still bouncing on the spot as she replied over the music.

"Last day? Last day of what?" Crystal looked inquisitively at the rest of them, "Can anyone else tell me what's so important about today?"

"Omigosh!" Dana suddenly screamed, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT TODAY IS???!!!!" She jumped up and sped over to the dressing table, grabbing a brush and running it through the hopelessly knotted hair.

"No." Crystal said in an overly patient voice as she scooped her curly blonde hair into a small ponytail, getting out of bed and moving over to the sink located in the room. "If I knew I wouldn't be asking would I?" She rolled her eyes, "Honestly Dana, if it isn't enough that I'm woken up at six by that…" Here she pointed at a smugly grinning Rain who was dressed in her customary black spandex shorts and green tank top, "…now you're talking in riddles."

"I know what it is." Charamei said suddenly, sitting up as her eyes widened in shock. Before she could get any further however she was interrupted by Rain. 

"Well I see at least two of you have got why I'm up so early, so I'll leave you ladies to panic and get ready shall I?" And with that she bounced out of the room and down the corridor, still singing…at the top of her lungs.

"GET READY FOR WHAT!?" Crystal yelled after her.

****************

"Well Ladies and Gentlemen, today is the day you've been waiting for, for a long time." Sergeant Polo looked around at the assembled pupils, "Today is the day you receive your very first plane. Look after it as though it were your child, and wherever you have commissions, take care of it, remember, your plane is worth more than…" A loud crash interrupted his speech as the main doors to the assembly hall went flying open, hitting the wall and rebounding with a loud clang. 

Rain and Crystal raced into the room, graduation robes flapping as they headed down the aisle at a run. "Sorry we're late sergeant!" Panted Crystal, "We forgot the time and…"

"Yes, yes Miss Saltine, please, just sit down." The headmaster of the academy massaged his temples as the two girls headed over towards their friends. Before they could reach their places however, a viciously placed foot sent Rain flying into Crystal and they toppled to the floor in a tangle of limbs and robes. 

"Geerghoff me!" Rain mumbled through a mouthful of Crystal's hair, "It's painful!"

"I would if I could." Crystal replied through gritted teeth, "But you're on top of me."

"Correction, you're on top of me."

The bickering was just about to escalate into all out war when Charamei pushed her way through the crowd of laughing males. "Get up you two and stop bickering, you're making us look like right idiots." She hissed, kneeling down next to them and untangling Crystal's hair from around Rain's button. (It had become caught on her blouse.)

Finally, bruised, battered and slightly winded, Rain and Crystal were on their feet again. Glaring at one another and anyone else who happened to be in the way of eye contact. Stalking down the lines of pupils Crystal found her place next to Elenbay and stood straight and haughty, two places down Rain did the same. 

"Bastards." Rain hissed to Charamei who was standing on her left, "One of those bastards tripped me on purpose."

"Language." Charamei hissed back, "Watch what your saying Rain, if anyone catches you saying things like that…"

Three hours later (or at least that's how it seemed to the fidgeting girls) they were handed their diplomas and ordered to meet outside for a final dismissal with Miss Jacks before collecting their Harrier's.

"Yes, yes, yeeeeeeees!" Dana punched a fist in the air as they headed to the Quadrangle for the final dismissal, "I can't believe it, after four damn years of being stuck here, we're finally leaving…AND with our own GR7's!" She cackled slightly, "And not one of those stupid males stopped us. Onna's rule!"

Elenbay however put a damper on the mood by pointing out that it was altogether possible they'd be put into separate squads. "After all," She added, "I'm sure they wouldn't trust all us _females_ together."

Rain pulled a face before grinning, "Well, at least if we go in different groups we know we've got more chance of making more men's lives a living hell." She looked around at her friends, "Right?"

Four long faces were her only answer, "Oh come on…look on the bright side…"

"What bright side?" Dana asked gloomily, "We're going to be split up, that's it, we won't keep in contact neither."

"_Either_." Crystal corrected, "And you never know, we might. Besides, we all knew this day would come soon…we just never expected it to come so quickly is all."

Rain started to hum a sad song, the kind you get in really bad movies just as the hero dies or something tragic happens. "It's not funny!" Snapped Charamei, "How can you make a joke of this Rain! Aren't you in the least bit upset?"

"Sure," The immovable girl answered promptly, "But it doesn't do to sit around and mope." 

"You're an insensitive jerk Rain!" Charamei burst out, "Don't you have any emotions?"

"Well not really…I just try to look on the bright side of life. And I may be an insensitive jerk but you love me for it." She smiled slightly, "So let's not argue but enjoy our last day ne?"

****************

Twenty-seven brand new, shiny Harrier jump jets waited in the hangers after they'd all been dismissed for the final time. 

"Would you look at these?" Rain looked around, eyes wide as she gazed at the new machine guns and rockets. "Think of the explosives on these!" Reaching up she patted one, almost as though it were a horse, "They're beautiful…" She whispered, hand still caressing the cold metal. "I wonder if they have a self-destruct button?"

Charamei shivered, "Gods I hope not, just the thought of one of those in my cockpit would unsettle me greatly. I'd pray every day we wouldn't have to use them…"

Their general chatter, and that of the other pilot's was interrupted by Colonel Higgs, who arrived gasping and out of breath, face flushed from exertion. The new pilots crowded round.

"What is it? What's happened?"

"Is anyone injured?"

"Do they need help up in the main building?"

"Quiet." A calm cool voice interrupted everyone, "We'll never find out if you all don't shut up." Surprisingly enough, it was Charamei.

"Now." She said, helping the still puffing Higgs to stand, "What is it?"

"'s wr…" He muttered, still fighting for breath.

"What?"

"War…" He managed to gasp out, "It's war…they've issued the call, you're all to head straight for the lecture rooms, where you will be instructed as to what will soon happen."

Quietly all the pilots trailed out. All that is except our five.

"War." Dana looked around at the other four, "I don't believe it, I never thought we'd live to see world war three."

"Hmm…" Crystal frowned slightly, "It is rather upsetting…"

The five friends remained silent for a couple of minutes, musing over the past few minutes' events. Soon however, their thoughts were interrupted by an annoyingly familiar voice.

"Oh well…" Rain said, trying to smile, "Look on the bright side…"

*****************

"Pay close attention!" Sergeant Brownstone snapped, cutting through people's worry as he looked around the crowded briefing room, "I want everyone to climb into their planes two by two once we're outside, taxi and take off please, the rest wait for my signal, you need to practice using the eject button. However, you must put the plane on autopilot before ejecting, that way we can control it from the ground with frequency and radio signals to bring it safely to land while you parachute. First two get ready."

As the rest scrambled towards the hanger the five girls walked behind, still talking amongst themselves.

"Oh man, this is just so damn…OW!!" Rain yelled, glaring at Crystal, why the HELL did you do that?" Her reply was another whack on the head with a manual before Crystal answered.

"Language." She reminded primly. "From now on, we're not allowed to curse, Sergeant Polo said it gives the academy a bad name, so if anyone swears, I'll keep hitting them until it's out of their system."

"Shi…OW!!" Dana rubbed her arm as she too glared at Crystal. "Oh come, I didn't even finish the sentence there, I could have been saying…er…sugar."

"Hmm." Crystal looked at her two furious friends as they arrived by the runway. "I don't care, even starting to swear is bad enough."

"Shit." Rain muttered to Charamei, "Where the hell did she come up with this idea? It's painful _and_ annoying."

"I heard that." A voice spoke from behind, closely followed by a whistling sound. Rain ducked instinctively, throwing herself flat on the floor as something hard whistled past her head. _Good job I spent years dodging punches._ She thought grimly, climbing back up and dusting her black spandex off.

"Crystal." Elenbay reminded gently, "I'm sure you're going to need that hard back manual when you're inside your cockpit, so don't throw it at Rain."

Crystal wrinkled her nose for a second, deep in thought. "You're right," She said at last, "Rain's skull's so thick it'd probably break in two."

"HEY I HEARD THAT!!!" Rain yelled, mocking Crystal's earlier words, and launching the book back in the direction of its owner. Crystal made a small sort of 'eeping' noise and also ducked…along with Miss Jacks…who had just entered the hanger.

"Auburns!" she snapped, "Please behave properly like the rest of your fellow students, honestly girl, can't you even behave for five minutes?"

"No Miss Jacks." Rain replied, face perfectly straight as she looked at the fuming teacher, "It is impossible for me to behave myself and remain in any teachers good books for more than _two_ minutes. You told me so yourself."

Crystal snorted slightly as she turned away to hide her giggles, however the snort and her shaking shoulders as she leant against Charamei gave her away.

"Do you find anything funny Miss Saltine?" Miss Jacks asked, rounding on the hapless Crystal.

Crystal opened her mouth to reply, but all that came out was a strangled choke before she gave in and burst out laughing. It is, after all, incredibly difficult to keep a straight face in front of a teacher if your best friend is pulling faces at the said teacher's back.

Miss Jacks frowned and spun around, just in time to catch Rain making a particularly ugly face. "Miss Auburns." She yelled, "If you were still part of this academy you would be doing fifty laps around the playing field…it is lucky for you that you have graduated." 

"Yes it is rather." Rain replied before turning to her friends, "Come on, we have a lecture on ejection buttons to attend."

******************

"Wow, that wasn't as difficult as I thought it'd be." Crystal muttered as she folded away her parachute, "It was just like being on a trampoline, except the bounce lasted a lot longer."

"Yeah," Elenbay added, "I liked it!"

Rain regarded her friends quietly (for once) before speaking up; her tone was, if it had been anyone but Rain, thoughtful. "Guys, did you notice how we were the first one's to go? And, well…how everyone looked disappointed when we hit the ground, like…like they'd wanted something to go wrong?"

"Yeah actually," Dana replied, blue eyes narrowing slightly, "I did, but I wasn't sure, I mean, our classmates wouldn't really want something to happen to us…right?"

"Well, they do hate us an awful lot." Charamei returned, "They're always being beaten by us, in everything, even hand to hand combat, and they feel it's wrong and that a woman's place is in the home."

"Chauvinist bastards…" Rain muttered, before a pained yelp came from her direction, "CRYSTAL!!!"

"Language." Crystal primly reminded her again, before tucking the handbook away in the regions of her green jumpsuit and heading back outside, she was soon followed by the rest of them.

"Do you copy me?" Sergeant Polo was yelling over the inter-com, voice booming and crackling with static. "Next pilot's…GO!"

With a roar and a waft of after-burn, the next seven Jump jets took to the sky. The five girls watched them circle the area twice before begin what was known as the 'attack run.' Two minutes later there was a hum from the planes and something white shot from each one. The harriers continued to circle as their owners fell graceful towards the earth, hair whipping in the sudden plunge before the parachutes snapped open.

The five girls watched out of cool eyes as their comrades continued to fall. Rain staring hard at the Harrier's, more worried for the other planes' safety than that of the pilots, Charamei watching anxiously and hoping no one would fall and hurt themselves, Crystal was simply staring hard at one boy in particular, a glimmer in her eye. "I could've sworn that one was swearing as he fell." She muttered, as the handbook made its appearance again.

Elenbay wasn't even looking up at the sky, but over towards the instructors hut, where through the window she could see Miss Jacks gesticulating wildly at what appeared to be sergeant Polo, before waving an angry arm in their direction. 

"I bet Miss jacks is in there causing trouble for us again." A quiet voice issued from behind Elenbay as she turned to see Dana standing about three paces off, nodding towards the hut. "You know how she hates us so much…in particular Rain."

Elenbay nodded but said nothing.

Rain meanwhile was satisfied that the Harrier's would be alright under the autopilot control of Sergeant Marco and was now watching the next set of ejectors float through the grey evening air. Suddenly a wicked grin lit up her face in nearly the exact same split second as Crystal's.

Glancing at one another, then at Charamei, Elenbay and Dana in turn, they mouthed something. Five seconds later, a loud caterwauling issued from below seven shocked pilots.

"It's raining men! Alleluia! It's raining men…raining men…" One pilot was so shocked he hit the release cord on his parachute to early. Luckily he was only twenty feet above the ground, so apart from being severely winded, he had nothing wrong with him.

"Raining men…"

*******************

"Black squad…" Sergeant Polo boomed, voice echoing through the quiet hall, "Will be placed in Antarctica, ready for swift attack and destruction of enemy bases. The black squad includes Peters, Matthews, Smith, Johnson and Auburns."

"Shit!" Rain hissed, "What the hell have they gone and put me in that squad for? We're being split up? OW!"

She glared at Crystal who, despite the fact that she was slightly smug about hitting the cursing Rain over the back of the head looked, rather upset. "Language Rain." She sniffed slightly and turned away, searching in her pocket for a tissue.

"In the blue squad." Sergeant Polo continued, ignoring the sniffling Crystal, "We have Fredrickson, Jones, Bruce, Baer and Minutia."

"No!" Dana gasped, "not me!" She blinked rapidly a couple of times, as though she were in shock, "I thought we were going to stick together throughout this war and we're assigned to separate units!"

And so it continued, the nightmarish quality hanging over the five girls as squad after squad was called, and each of them was placed in a different one, that would be heading for different parts of the world.

Rain had been assigned to black squad, heading for Antarctica early the next morning; Charamei had been assigned to white squad, heading for Ireland in a week. Crystal had been assigned to Green squad, heading for America, Elenbay to red, heading for Japan and Dana to blue, staying in England as a defensive backup squad. 

Crystal blinked back more tears as Sergeant Polo continued to pronounce their doom, Charamei looked as though she were about to faint when she heard that she'd been assigned to a squad with the class bullies, Rain stood stubbornly grim, lips set in a tight frown as she tried desperately to conceal her anger, Dana bit her lip and glanced worriedly at the rest of her squad and Elenbay stood completely still, eyes downcast.

And finally it was over, normal time seemed to resume and reality appeared to be rushing back in. The girls blinked, staying silent in their places as everyone else rushed off to spread their good news.

"I…I don't damn well believe it…" Rain croaked out, throat suddenly tight and dry, not even Crystal told her off for swearing this time. "Those…those…" For once she appeared to be at a loss for words, this hadn't happened before and on a more normal occasion, her friends would have been eternally grateful.  

"Believe it Miss Auburns." A malicious voice sounded from behind them, spinning, the girls found themselves face to face with Miss Jacks. "You girls have been thorns in my sides from the moment you set foot in this academy, always outdoing the boys…answering back, in particular _you_." Here she turned to rain, "But you've got your comeuppance now haven't you miss smart mouth, not so full of yourself anymore, now you know that you've got to leave your little friends." Turning Miss Jacks began to head off, when suddenly she turned, "Oh, and by the way, Sergeant Polo said I was to tell you, you're not allowed contact with any of the other girls while you're away, do you hear me? No contact AT ALL." And with that final sneer, the teacher walked away.

*******************

"This is 04 to 01, come in 01 what are we meant to be doing?"

Laughter sounded over the radio transmitter and Rain frowned, they were doing it again, not telling her what the mission was, hiding it from her so that she would look like a fool. Gritting her teeth she tried again.

"01 PLEASE respond." More laughter then dead silence. _I don't believe it;_ Rain thought in shock, _they've actually cut off my radio link so I'm not in contact with ANY of them! Don't these bastards know they're endangering the mission?_ Sighing she decided just to follow their lead, and, as they headed toward a naval base, began to get the general picture.

_Ok, lessee. They have the ship factory, which must be the main target, and then the outer warehouses, minimal security so that's alright, but one can never be to careful…_She paused, checking her weapons system as she hit the autopilot button and her black jumpsuit which served as an anti-pressure suit to boot. 

Nearing the base however, the five pilots found things were better guarded than they appeared to be. Sixteen planes came roaring out to greet them with a hail of machine gun bullets.

Suddenly Rain, to her great satisfaction found the radio signal had been switched back on and the voice of the squad leader issued over it in a frantic yell. "Quick Auburns! What do we do? You were the best at tactical and there's five of us and sixteen of them!"

Rain allowed herself a moment of grim satisfaction before snapping back, "01 and 02 follow me, we'll distract them and take down as many as possible, leaving 03 and 05 to attack the target, 01 and I will lead them away from the base, 02 follow us closely in case we get into trouble, have you got this?"

Four doubtful mutters were her only reply but it was enough, they didn't like taking orders from a woman, but there was nothing else to do.

*****************

Charamei cowered back slightly, sinking deeper into her corner as four menacing figures advanced towards her, one holding a piece of wood, the other three grinning in what can only be described as an evil manner. 

"Hey gorgeous, we're home." One leered, breath stinking of alcohol, as he moved to her side. Desperately she tried to squirm away but was held in an iron grip that bruised her arm. 

"Get off me!" The girl spat, tears streaking her cheeks as she struggled furiously against him. "LET ME GO!"

The rest of the squad just laughed as another said, "What's the matter bitch? Being a pilot not quite what you imagined, too delicate really to associate with the likes of us?"

Another round of laughter burst from the drunken crowd surrounding Charamei as her arms were pinned behind her back with one hand and a gag was stuffed in her mouth with another.

Suddenly cold air hit her back as her shirt was ripped off, kicking one man frantically in the shins she tried to escape her drunken comrades. (If that is what they could be called.) She got three feet however before a burst of pain issued from the back of her head and she slumped forward into unconsciousness. 

********************

_Hum. Click. Hum. _The first thing Rain was aware of was pain…and lots of it, her right side felt like it was on fire and her left leg shot splintering pains up to the top of her thigh each time she moved. Cautiously she peeked open one eye, the first thing she saw was a white machine. Groaning she closed the said eye and peered out of the other one. 

Another white machine. 

Blinking fuzzily she watched as the room swam into focus, _hang on,_ she thought, brain beginning to work quickly again, _what's going on here? I'm meant to be dead._ Frowning slightly she recalled what had happened. "Too many," she muttered, half to herself half to the whirring machines, "Got close too target, had to self-destruct…so I should be dead…" a quick inventory told her she was breathing, "But obviously I'm not, unless this is some sort of weird freaky after life that I have to live in…" She shifted slightly, sending more jolts of pain up her leg and back, "Well someone could have warned me death hurts like hell!" She muttered sourly, glaring around the white room, with its white curtains, white floor, white ceiling and white chair. "They really need a decorator in here, a nice black colour should do it…and now I'm speaking to myself." The short-haired girl rolled her eyes at her own madness, "What would the rest of the girls say if they saw you like this eh Rain? God I'm such a freak."

At that point a nurse entered, stopping the conversation between the girl and herself, short. "Ah, I see you're awake Miss Auburns, feeling better?"

"Yeah." The girl said shortly, looking at the curly-headed nurse, "But where the hell am I?"

"Oh, this is St Peter's hospital." The nurse remarked cheerfully, "Now can I get you anything?"

"Yeah, I'd like my laptop please."

"And where exactly is that Miss?"

"It should be in my bag at base, would you radio and get someone to bring it out?"

"Sure."

Rain gritted her teeth as the nurse walked out. _That woman is to damn happy for her own damn good._ She thought, rolling onto her side, _SHIT THAT HURT!!!_ She sighed again; _it's going to be a long few weeks, why couldn't I have died?_

*****************

Rain sighed and sat up as the rest of the squad entered her room, all looking sheepish and rather subdued, 01 (who happened to be Peters) apologetically and without a word, offered the glowering Rain a bunch of flowers. "Uh…thanks for doing that." He muttered, "It was decent of you, maybe you're not such a bad girl after all." Rain's reply was to scowl harder. "Uh…does it hurt?" Another asked, flustered under what appeared to be a super Death glare that could've burnt holes in the side of his head.

Rain resisted the urge to roll her eyes and shake the stupid boy. "Yes," She said patiently, "It hurts. A lot."

"Oh."

"Here, we brought your laptop." Said another, obviously trying to lighten the mood. The only thing he succeeded in doing however; was turning the Death glare from his friend to himself.

Five minutes later four very embarrassed and subdued pilots shuffled out of room 104 and down the corridor, glancing sheepishly at each other, Rain, to say the least, had not been impressed at their method of peace making, and had told the embarrassed boys as much and where exactly they could shove it.

Sighing she sat back, smiling slightly as she flipped up the lid of the battered old laptop. _No new e-mails, no new missions…all clear…_she mused to herself, settling down into the bed more comfortably she connected to a chat site and waited for someone to show up.

**Gypsy girl says**: Hi!

Rain smiled slightly.

**Wings of death says:** Hi! Haven't spoken to you in over three months! How are you        Charamei?                 

**Gypsy girl says**: Not good, I heard a couple of rumours about Crystal and Elenbay as well.

**Wings of death says:** What's wrong with you?

**Gypsy girl says:** Nothing much.

**Wings of death says:** Don't lie to me Charamei, you were never very good at it, even over the net.

**Gypsy girl says:** I'm not lying!

**Wings of death says:** Yeah right…anyway, what's happened to everyone else?

**Gypsy girl says:** Well…Crystal got into a fight with her squad and ended up with a broken leg…

**Wings of death says**: THOSE BASTARDS!!!!

**Gypsy girl says:** Language Rain.

**Wings of death says:** Sorry.

**Gypsy girl says:** Elenbay is being completely ignored by her squad, they don't say a word to her, and Dana's getting on ok.

**Wings of death says:** Oh, not good! Three out of five of us down in one way or another.

**Gypsy girl says:** Three? Only Elenbay and Crystal have been hurt…where are you Rain? *looks suspicious*

**Wings of death says:** Uh…hospital. ^_^;

**Gypsy girl says:** How did you get there?

**Wings of death says**: *mutters* Self destructed…

**Gypsy girl says:** oooookay…o_0 uh…mind if I ask WHY?

**Wings of death says:** Mission.

**Gypsy girls says: **What's the matter?

**Wings of death says:** Oh nothing much, a couple of broken ribs a broken leg and injured back, not much at all.

**Gypsy girl says: **NOT MUCH!!!! *faints from exasperation*

**Wings of death says: **Yeah, I've had worse.

**Gypsy girl says:** uh oh, they're back, got to go…

**Gypsy girl may not answer as he/she appears to be offline. **

Rain sighed and set her laptop on the bedside table before switching off the light, but she was too angry to sleep, images of her friends kept swirling round her head, Crystal and Elenbay hurt and upset? They were all so happy, and in one month with those bastards, they were friendless and outcasts. _I hope I see them soon…_She mused as sleep finally claimed her…

******************

Four weeks later… 

"RAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIN!" Rain nearly leapt a foot into the air as a loud scream echoed across the mess hall. Spinning in her seat she saw two blurs heading towards her before the chair and table was sent flying and she was sent sprawling onto her back, and enthusiastic Crystal and grinning Elenbay on top of her.

"Rain how are you? Did you miss us? God you look awful what's happened, how long have you been here?" Crystal paused in the middle of pelting questions when she noticed Rain going purple in the face. "What's the matter?"

"Can't…breathe…" Rain choked out.

"Oops, sorry!" Elenbay giggled, jumping up and reaching down to pull Rain into a standing position. Rain winced as the recent scars pulled slightly and her leg screamed at her.

"Hey are you ok?" Came a cool voice from the other side of Crystal and Elenbay, ""You look the worse for wear."

"DANA!!!" Elenbay shrieked, "WHEN DID YOU GET BACK AND WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL US?!"

"Calm down Els, I've been back about an hour, chill." Dana pulled her hair back into a ponytail as she spoke, turning she looked at Rain. "God what the hell happened to you? You look goddam awful!"

"LANGUAGE!" Crystal yelled, swatting at Dana's head, but the girl had already danced out of reach. "Rats, missed."

Rain stood up, wincing again before sitting down abruptly on the nearest chair. "I had to self destruct, about four weeks ago, the wounds are still mending, but I heal pretty quick so they let me out of hospital early, that and they couldn't wait to get rid of me…" Noticing her friends looks she shrugged, "Well I was bored."

"Ah." Crystal nodded wisely; they all knew a bored Rain was a dangerous Rain.

"Hey guys." A cracked voice whispered from behind them, startling Rain so much that she fell off her chair.

Again.

"Chara…mei?" Crystal cried, shock written all over her face, what the HELL happened to you?" She shuddered, "You look even worse than suicidal over there," here she indicated the now glowering Rain.

"Yeah…s'me." Charamei's voice sounded hoarse, as though she'd been screaming for hours on end, and the bruises under her eyes and along one of her cheekbones showed that something _bad_ had happened.

Rain winced as she climbed slowly to her feet, "Ok Char, spill, what the hell has happened to you and when can I go and beat up whoever did it?"

Charamei smiled faintly, only a glimmer of her usually happy smile showing through. "Nothing…nothing that bad has happened, I got beaten up a bit…that's about it…"

"No it fucking…" here Rain had to duck swiftly as 'Harrier jump jets, the complete guide' was chucked at her head, Charamei went pale and shook slightly, "…isn't…that's not all that happened Charamei and you da…rn well know it."

Charamei flushed an angry red, making the bruises on her cheek stand out more, "Fine…" She half yelled, voice still hoarse, "Fine I'll tell you…they used me for their own enjoyment ok? They…they raped me…"

Four girls sat in stunned silence for a second before four sets of eyes narrowed dangerously. Rain smiled, it was the glassy sort of smile a person gets when they've gone past anger and somewhere out the other side into pure ice cold fury. "Excuse us Charamei, we won't be long." She said calmly, before turning to Elenbay. "Stay with her please." And with that she picked up her crutches, "You two," (at this point they noticed she had slipped into commando mode) "Follow me."

****************

"Yeah…dumb bitch couldn't wait to see her friends…" A polite cough sounded from the door of the boys' locker room and Charamei's four squad members turned their heads to see three angry girls standing in the doorway. "What do you want?" a large boy asked.

One of them smiled, it wasn't a very nice smile, and it was one a panther might wear just before it pounced on a small, helpless rodent. "We wanted to talk to you gentlemen."

The squad leader narrowed his eyes, "Why? Who the hell are you?" Suddenly he paled, "Shit! Are you those girls we heard about, the one's who were trained here too?"

"That'd be us." One said, ice blue eyes snapping with anger, "And we're hear to chat to you. Like she said." Here she nodded at the short-haired one.

Another of the boys leant against a locker, faking a yawn, "Well get on with it bitches, we were talking about highly important things before you interrupted."

"What," A third, blonde-haired girl said, "Like how you raped our best friend, fascinating conversation topic that is, don't mind if we join in do you." It was not a question.

Three girls strode into the room…well two strode, one hobbled on crutches. Four boys backed away.   

"Now," Said the short-haired one, "I was _really_ not happy to hear what you did to Charamei, so I want to express my feelings in the best possible way." She smiled a third time…it was really starting to freak her own side out, not to mention the terror it was beginning to stir in the boys. Carefully she walked over to the largest of them all, and, pulling her arm back, let loose with a punch that broke his nose the instant it made contact. 

The other three boys tried to rush to help their fallen leader, who was whimpering on the floor as blood poured out of the broken nose, but three soft clicks made them stop in their tracks.

The clicks were of three safety catches being released on three pistols. "Try to move," Said the black-haired one.

"And we blow off your heads." Finished the blonde-haired one, grinning in what was not an entirely comforting way.

Rain stepped closer to the now frozen boys, "If any of you bastards touch her again," She whispered softly, so only they could hear, "_any_ one of you, I will personally see to it, that every, single, bone in your body is broken, that you are dragged up before a court, and then I will make _sure_ that you are shot. _Do you understand me?_"

Four frightened nods were her only reply. 

"Good." She turned towards the door, accepting her crutch back from Crystal, "Let's go girls."

******************

"Having seen the recent problems that have come to light ladies, I have a proposal to make to you." Sergeant Polo strode across his office, "I wish to put you together in your own squad."

He waited for the loud yells and whoops to quiet down before adding, "You will each be equipped with your own personal Harrier, carefully modified to meet your own specifications, you will each have a new pressure suit and your name will be the pink squad."

A choking sound issued from Rain as she gagged on a mouthful of water, after spluttering incoherently for a few seconds she managed to control herself. "The pink squad sir?"

"Yes…you are, are you not, girls, girls like pink do they not?"

Charamei had the sneaking suspicion Rain was about to blow her top at the last comment, so she jumped in before her friend could explode like a re-enactment of Vesuvias. "But sir, we've become attached to our old jump suits, can't we just keep those?" She indicated Rain's black one, her own white one, Crystal's green one, Elenbay's red one and Dana's blue one.

"Well…" Sergeant Polo seemed hesitant, "…alright then…but you'll need a new name, other than the pink squad."

"Hm…how about…the flying colours." Elenbay said, "It seems to suit us."

"Yeah!"

"Very well then, flying colours it is." Sergeant Polo saluted them, "Dismissed…oh and girls?"

The five turned around from where they'd been halfway out the door, "The squad will only be used for special missions. You're leader will be Rain."

"Whoooa," Crystal yelled, "Rain? Are we talking about the same Rain? You chose _RAIN_ as squad leader? She who is suicidal, loud, annoying, often violent, deadly with a gun or self-destruct button…that Rain?"

"YES! Miss Saltine, now, DISMISSED!"

*******************

"Beautiful…" Rain whispered, eyes shining as she gazed up at her new Harrier, "Beautiful, wonderful…so, so, beautiful…"

"God Rain, you're making me sick!" Dana yelled as she walked past, "It's just…a…plane…" She was staring with wide eyes at her own, a new model, named 'Justice bird.'

Elenbay was standing next to a camouflaged one, painted to look like desert sand, the name was, of course, 'Desert storm.'

Crystal was gazing at a green jet, with the words 'clueless' written on it, mouth hanging slightly open, she clambered up the ladder to the cockpit. "Would you look at this?!" She yelled to the to the other four girls at various points around the hanger.

"Wonderful!" Yelled Charamei, from where she'd been inspecting her own plane, 'Grateful dead.' "HEY!!! RAIN!!!! RAIN AUBURNS!!!"

Rain glanced up, startled, from where she'd been standing, still staring at her own, "What?"

"What did you call yours?"

"Uh…"

"Well?"

The other girls had crowded round too, all straining curiously to see the inscription on one side, however, Rain was blocking it with her body.

"COME ON TELL US ALREADY!!!" Dana yelled, impatience showing in her voice.

"Well…I called it…Pegasus."

"Uh…Pegasus?"

"Yeah."

Charamei smiled slightly, "Well I like it…want to take these babies for a spin now?"

"YEAH!!!"

"Let's go already!" Rain yelled, sliding down the ladder to do a last minute check, as was everyone else. "I'm in a hurry dammit!"

"LANGUAGE!!" Crystal yelled, picking up a green object from the floor.

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!" Rain screamed, hitting the floor as the green object whistled over her head, "NOT WITH THE HELMET CRYS!!!"

****************

"S'great!" Crystal muttered through a mouthful of potato, "The absolute best! Our own planes…" She sighed happily, shoving a couple of peas into her mouth as well.

"Mmm…" The five girls were silent for a moment, all basking in the glow that owning their own Harrier's had caused. Suddenly Rain noticed Charamei holding a stick.

"Uh…Charamei? What the hell is that thing?"

"Charamei smiled slightly, looking round at four puzzled faces, "It's my sela, a weapon used in the village I was born in, my family taught me how to fight with it."

"Well why haven't we seen it before?" Elenbay wanted to know, "After all, it seems important to you."

"It is, I belong to a tribe of gypsy's, whenever a child is born that child is taught a skill from the place of birth, be it China, Japan or England, I only acquired it recently however as I have 'come of age' in the tribe."

"Ah…" Crystal nodded in understanding, "Sounds a bit like my family, I come from a long line of naval officers, Father and Grandfather gave me this the day I was to come here…" Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small pistol, carefully crafted, "It's small, but can be silenced if I ever need to do a quiet job." She smiled, what about you Elenbay?"

Elenbay looked up from where she'd been studying her pudding with an expression of wariness. "Huh? Oh, my family gave me this." She pulled out a throwing star from the region of her belt, "They said it'd bring me luck. They come from Indonesia." She explained when she saw the others expressions.

"Dana?" Rain asked, "What'd you get from your family?"

Dana pulled out a dagger. "This, my family are performers in a circus, my dad's the knife thrower, it's his best one. I've been practicing and can now hit a target the size of a pea at twenty feet away!"

"Cool…" Rain grinned, "I've got to get me one of those!"

There was a moments pause before Elenbay asked, "Hey Rain, what did your family give you? I've never even heard you talk of them before…"

Rain flushed and looked down at her plate, fiddling uncomfortably with her napkin, "I don't have any family, that's why."

"Oh," Crystal said, "So that's why you never talk about them, well, what happened to them?"

"_Crystal!_" Charamei hissed, "Can't you see she doesn't want to talk about it?"

"No, it's fine." Rain interrupted, "She has a right to know, as do all of you I guess." She took a deep breath, starting her story.

"When I was a year old, before I can remember, my parents abandoned me on an orphanage doorstep, there was no letter with me by way of explanation, I had nothing with me except the clothes I stood up in and my cross…"

"What cross?" Dana asked puzzled, "I've never seen it."

"Well you wouldn't, I keep it tucked under my shirt. Almost as though it were a secret. Anyway, I always dreamt my parents would come back, take me away from the orphanage, I always clung onto that hope, I couldn't face the fact that someone just didn't want me that much. But time wore on, and I grew up, they never came, and when I was fourteen, I came here." She shrugged, "That's it really, nothing more to tell."

"I'm sorry Rain, we shouldn't have asked you." Charamei said, "It was really unfair though! Of your parents I mean."

Rain smiled bitterly, "Yeah, well, that's the way the world works isn't it?" And with that she got up and walked away, holding back tears.

****************

It was dark; the stars were glittering softly above her as Rain drew her knees up to her chest, staring up at them. One hand twined around the silver cross and chain that dangled from her neck. _It's funny, no one even looks at them anymore,_ She mused, thinking of the stars, _no one sees their beauty, they look like beautiful diamonds on black silk, just waiting to be plucked from up there…_She smiled softly to herself, _maybe one day I'll be up there with them, glittering like a star myself, able to touch them once and for all, maybe we'll be able to travel among them like shooting stars ourselves._

A cold breeze blew up to where she was sitting on a hanger roof, carrying with it the sound of voices far below as people talked and laughed together, but up here she was alone, no one to interrupt her thoughts. _I wonder if they're out there somewhere, looking at the stars the same as me, thinking of their daughter._ She wondered briefly and bitterly. _No, they're probably enjoying their freedom, get over it Rain, it happened when you were too young to remember, they didn't want you, and are not about to show up now._ Sighing she slipped down the rope she'd climbed to get up to her hiding place. _Time to go in methinks. I've obviously been on my own for too long…_

****************

"This is Pegasus to Grateful death, Sandstorm, Clueless and Justice bird, do you all copy?" 

"Copy 01."

"Right ladies, time to kick some ass…"

"LANGUAGE!!" 

"Sorry."

All five girls smiled as they attacked the enemy base with renewed vigour, they'd been working together for five months now, and were loving every last minute of it.

"The mission. Destroy all enemy factories." Rain muttered to herself, and, as the last bomb dropped towards the ground, heading straight for the final warehouse, she smiled, "Mission…" But she never finished those words; they stuck in her throat, like dry food can sometime do.

"Rain, Rain what's happening?" Crystal asked, sounding worried, "The sky…it's…_wobbling._"

"I think I'm going to be plane sick." Elenbay muttered over the radio.

"You can't get plane sick, you're a pilot!" Charamei pointed out.

"Watch me!"

"It must have been the chemicals we destroyed in the base," Rain said, "They must've had some sort of effect on us."

"THEN WHY THE HELL IS THE SKY _AND GROUND SPINNING?!" Crystal wanted to know, "IT'S NOT MEANT TO DO THAT!"_

"I…" Charamei began…but before she could finish her sentence, there was a blinding flash, a loud explosion…and blackness…

**************

_Oh not MORE pain…_Was Rain's first thought as she regained consciousness, her entire body throbbed and stung as though she'd been pounded by a giant mallet. _Can't I get by for one week without hurting myself in one way or another? _As if in reply her head began to ache as more consciousness slipped in, _obviously not._

A soft noise off to one side of her made her eyelids shoot open and her body react automatically going for the gun she _knew_ was there…which in reality wasn't.

"Damn." She swore softly to herself, before realising the quick movement into a standing position had sent pain racing throughout her body in great waves, fighting a rush of nausea, she took a couple of gulps of air, trying to steady herself when a soft "_click_" made her start and look up from her scrutiny of the floor.

Dark blue eyes met angry hazel ones in a silent glare as the boy scrutinised the girl in front of him.

Rain looked at the boy aiming at her head and gulped slightly, there appeared to be no mercy in those cobalt orbs, and she didn't like the look of the gun pointed her way either. _So I'm a prisoner am I?_ She thought, _just my luck…funny though, I've never seen this dude on any of our target files, and he looks pretty damn dangerous._

"Name."

"Huh?" Rain was thrown out of her musings by a clear low voice cutting through her tactical thoughts about the nearest escape route.

"Your name." The boy, if this was possible, appeared to be glaring harder.

"What the makes you think I'll give away information to the enemy?" Rain asked, _I don't believe this guy, he really thinks I'll tell him stuff straight off, with no clue as to who he is…_

"You will or I will destroy you, you are obviously the enemy, having tried to kill us by crashing your plane into the house we were staying in, unfortunately for you, " The boy raised his gun, "Your mission failed."

_Well that explains the pain… _"Well, I'm certainly not telling you my name until  you tell me yours!" Rain knew she sounded childish now, but couldn't care less. "I think that is only fair don't you?"

Before the boy could reply however, a second one bounced into the room, a long chestnut braid swinging behind him, for a second, Rain thought it was Charamei, but his eyes were violet, not green, and his hair was slightly darker, there was also the fact he was wearing black.

"Hey Heero! So she's awake now?" Violet eyes turned on Rain, who was still standing by the bed, clad only in her customary spandex shorts and green tank top. "Hey, she looks like a female version of you Hee-chan!"

"Don't call me that." The said 'Hee-chan' growled, gun still levelled at a smirking Rain. 

The longhaired boy took no notice, bouncing over he stuck out a hand towards the spiky haired girl. "Hi! I'm Duo Maxwell! What's your name?"

_If this is a trick to get me to speak, it's an incredibly dumb one, _Rain thought, mentally rolling her eyes, _guess this guy's for real._ "I'm Rain…Rain Auburns." She took the proffered hand and shook it, "Pleased to meet you."

Violet eyes smiled for a second as Duo shook her hand before turning to Hee-chan, "You could at least have been more sociable you know. Look, she's practically dead on her feet!"

"I'm not!" Rain protested fuzzily, suddenly realising the boy was right, she _was_ tired. "I'm not tired at all…" She yawned, but suddenly snapped back to reality, "My Harrier! My squad! What's happened to them? Are they alright?"

Before she could continue however, a click at the door indicated that someone else was entering the room. A cautious blonde head peered around it, before a slim body followed, "Hey! I see you're awake, thought you might like some tea!" The blonde boy walked over and set the tray he was carrying down on the bedside table, Rain took the steaming cup gratefully. 

"Thanks."

"No problem, I'm Quatre Raberba Winner by the way, I'm guessing when I say that Heero and Duo have introduced themselves to you?"

Rain's legs buckled and she sat quickly on the bed, "Duo did, but Mr Social over there didn't." Here she nodded at a still glowering Heero. 

Quatre giggled, "He's always like that, you get used to him after a while."

"And his stalker." Duo muttered darkly.

"Stalker?" 

"Relena, she's a pacifist, vice foreign minister, got a thing for the perfect soldier over there."

Rain blinked, they were talking as though she was mean to know all this, "Look, I don't mean to sound naïve, but where the hell am I?" 

Duo gave her a look that quite plainly said 'duh!' "You're on colony L4." He said in a patient voice, "Though what you're doing here I don't know."

Rain stared blankly at him for a second, "I'm sorry…what did you say?" she asked, confusion written over her face, "And what has happened to my squad and HARRIER!?"

"Ah, that is what the machine was." Heero spoke up from his corner, "It is very old fashioned, only used around the third world war I believe, what I want to know is why have you got it, and why did you crash it into our house?"

"Oh my god…" Rain said weakly, trying to take in what the stoic boy had just said, "I think…I think I'm in the future…shit." 

"That's one way to describe it." Duo agreed, nodding his head, suddenly a loud clang from the other end of the hall sounded, "Excuse me, that's probably Trowa, I'll go help him." The braided boy vanished.

"Hn." Heero studied the girl, from her black jump suit that looked as though it had been through hell and back, to her spiky hair that stuck out at odd angles. "So the crash was not deliberate?"

"NO! Why would it be?"

"Because we are Gundam pilots."

"I'm sorry…did I just hear you say 'Gundam'?"

"Yes."

"And what the hell is a Gundam?"

"I will explain later."

Rain rolled her eyes in frustration, before she finally took in the boy's appearance, "HEY WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WEARING MY CLOTHES?!" She yelled, the boy was wearing her beloved green tank top and spandex shorts. "GET THEM OFF THIS INSTANT!"

Heero looked mildly surprised by this but returned in a perfectly neutral voice, "These are mine, I have been wearing them since this morning."

"And for practically every other day of his life." Quatre added helpfully.

Until then Rain had forgotten he was in the room, but now she rounded on him, clothing flying out of the window as another thought occurred to her, "Is everyone ok?"

"If you mean the rest of your squad, yes they're fine, three are awake and one is still unconscious, they've been asking for you ever since they found out you were alive."

"I have to go see them!" Rain said, jumping up again, but the room swam vicously around her, "Argh!"

"Sit." Quatre told her kindly, "And rest, I will let them see you later."

****************

"The best pupil I ever had!" a large woman wailed, "She was brilliant, oh the brilliant child! How I shall miss her, she beat the men at everything and now she's dead!"

Sergeant Polo patted the sobbing woman on the back, "I'm sure Rain Auburns is happier now," He said uncertainly, "So don't let it get you down Miss Jacks."

"My best pupil…" Miss Jacks continued to sob, "DEAD!!! Along with the rest of her squad, I don't believe it! How will I ever forgive myself?"

To Be Continued…

D.D. Well come on people, FEEDBACK SO FAR!!!! I know this was long, but it will be original, and hopefully funny!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's notes; Well, it's my (Admiral Albia's) turn now... hey! Come back! COOOME BAAAACK! *drags back all those who have read her Harry Potter fics* It's not that bad! Promise... 

/\/\/\ Dana looked around at the rest of the Flying Colours and began to smile as she noticed that Rain was sulking, Charamei was mournfully examining what had before been a _white_ jump-suit, and Crystal and Elenbay were comparing notes on their various bruises, breaks and harrier malfunctions. She knew what they needed...   
"Hey guys." Four heads turned slowly in her direction. "Does anyone have any changes of clothing with them? No? Then we'd better..."   
Four screams brought the boys running, only to discover everyone as whole as they had been previously, but crowded into one corner of the room, as far away from Dana as was humanly possible.   
"What's the matter?" Quatre demanded.   
Rain extended a shaky hand and pointed at Dana. "Sh-sh-she wants us to go... to go... to go..."   
"Shopping!" Charamei cried. "WITH HER!"   
"That's _all_?" Wufei demanded.   
"Sure we can go shopping!" Quatre proclaimed. Four glares turned on him.   
"Whose side are you _on?_" Elenbay demanded.   
"Oh, come on, it's just shopping," Duo said. "Aren't you exaggerating just a teensy little bit?" 

/\/\/\

"They weren't exaggerating," Duo groaned three hours later as Dana tried to persuade Crystal to `go for something a bit more feminine`.   
"We _told_ you," Rain muttered sulkily. "You should never let Dana Minutia anywhere near a clothes shop, not if you want her to come out alive."   
"She usually comes out alive," Elenbay corrected.   
"Not this time."   
"Ah... uh-oh."   
"Uh-oh what?... Uh-oh." Rain, unfortunately, hadn't noticed Dana looking for a new victim, and as such was pounced on even as the others were backing away and Crystal was systematically replacing every item of clothing Dana had picked out for her on the racks. "You _cowards_," she hissed as she was dragged over to a rack of skirts.   
"Yep," Charamei said cheerfully. "But we're _safe _cowards." To the others she added, "Right people, here's what we do..."   
"I think this would really go with your hair, you know," Dana sang out as she held up a dress.   
A _pink_ dress.   
"Dana," Rain said in a voice that was far too nice and calm and polite, "do you by any chance have a DEATH WISH?" She grabbed the dress and shoved it back onto the rack. "It's _pink_, and it's a _dress_."   
"Exactly," the other girl said, nodding cheerily. "It's about time you started wearing girl's clothes, Rain. And pink's the in thing right now."   
"You sound like the mother I never had," Rain retorted, heading for sportswear.   
At least, that was the plan. Unfortunately, what actually happened was that she walked about two feet before being grabbed by the arm and yanked back to where she had originally been standing; Dana had just found a pink T-shirt in her size.   
"Hey, Dana," Charamei called suddenly from somewhere behind Dana, "we just found something that would look _fantastic_ with your hair! Come here, I bet you'll love it!"   
"In a moment," Dana called.   
"There's only one left!"   
"I'm on my way!" Dana turned to Rain and dumped the T-shirt on her. "Stay." She ran off, and as she did so Elenbay tapped Rain on the shoulder.   
"Run," she said quietly. "Meet us in sportswear." And with that, she disappeared.   
Rain didn't need to be told twice. She hastily hung the T-shirt back on the rack and took off as quickly and quietly as possible, becoming even quicker and quieter as she passed the sound of Dana and Charamei having their old argument about whether Dana should tie her hair back or not; apparently, the `thing that would look good with Dana's hair` had been a hair tie and the part about there being only one left had been a blatant lie.   
_I underestimate these guys_, she thought as she entered the safety of the sportswear department, where Elenbay and Crystal were already picking clothes they liked. Aloud she said, "Where're the boys?"   
Crystal wrinkled her nose in thought. "Wufei said it wouldn't work because it's a girls' plan and he's safer where he is, Duo was enjoying watching Charamei berate Dana about her hair, Heero wanted to stay with Duo, and Quatre and Trowa... uh... pass."   
"Right. And where's _Charamei?_"   
"What's the time?" Elenbay asked, even as she checked her watch. "Oh, right. In that case... probably getting a complete wardrobe in pink. Unless the argument lasted for longer than usual, or she got away. Somehow."   
"I got away," Charamei said from behind them. "I told her that if she tried to do my clothes I'd try to do her hair ties and make sure she used them, and she gave up." She paused. "I think she's starting on Heero now."   
"Heero doesn't _need_ new clothes," Crystal said. "I mean, he hasn't crashed into any buildings in another time zone recently, has he?"   
"No, but Dana said... what was it now? Oh yeah. `Anyone who dresses like that is seriously in need of a new wardrobe, and Rain's living proof of it`, or something like that... Rain, you're not considering going back down there, are you?"   
"For that, she dies," Rain said calmly, heading for the stairs.   
"Rain, it's dangerous down there! It's a clothes shop with Dana in it! And she hasn't finished your shopping yet!"   
"She won't have time," Rain called over her shoulder. 

/\/\/\

The first person Rain met on the floor below was a little old lady who has nothing to do with the story in any shape or form but merely exists as a space filler. The second was Wufei, who didn't appear to have moved at all since she had last seen him, but who looked rather surprised at the fact that the plan had obviously worked. 

But the sound of the lesser spotted Dana was coming from the men's shirts, and Rain needed one for her collection. She snuck closer, and nearly blew her cover laughing the second she was close enough to make out her friend's words. She parted the clothes of one final rack and there was Dana, completely oblivious to the danger she was in. She seemed to have given up on the pink, but fluorescent orange seemed to be about as persuasive, despite the suggestion that it would both `put some colour into Heero's cheeks` and `go with his eyes`. 

Heero didn't seem to believe what he was hearing, an affliction quite common with first-time shopping partners of Dana; but he had obviously been standing there for a while, and as Rain watched he calmly snatched the clothes from Dana, looked at them for a second as if contemplating ripping them in two, then put them back on the rack and walked off, presumeably to find Quatre and Trowa. Dana shrugged and turned on Duo, who up until this point had found the whole proceedings extremely funny. 

Rain sat and watched for a while, occasionally being forced to retreat so she could laugh her head off as Dana tried to convince Duo that the best thing he could do with his hair would be to put it in a high bun, pin small pink butterflies all over it then tie a huge pink bow around the front. They say a face is worth a thousand words, but Duo's was worth a book. A very long book, with very tiny print. 

Rain went to get the others when her friend started trying to actually perform this hairdressing miracle, to see how it would look. It would be too good a chance to miss... surely somebody had a camera? 

/\/\/\

"Wouldn't it be funny if this was the one time she managed to pull it off?" Elenbay giggled as the four headed back downstairs nearly five minutes later, it having taken that long to decipher Rain's hysterical gasps.   
"The second time," Crystal corrected. "She did manage to get Charamei _once_."   
"Only because I didn't understand what she was saying," the latter grumbled. "I thought she wanted to borrow my hairbrush."   
"Oh, was that what happened? All we saw was you walking straight into the lion's den, and giving the lion a knife and fork and napkin, so to speak."   
"Yeah, well, I never let her do it again, did I?"   
"We're there," Rain said, stopping the impending argument as they began to edge closer, attracting the attention of one Chang Wufei as they did so; he was apparently beginning to give in to his curiosity, as every time Rain went past he seemed to be a little closer to the danger zone. 

Crystal, unfortunately, had left her camera at the base, which was mildly inaccessible from a shopping mall five hundred years into the future. _A/n; WWIII, when the girls come from, happened/will happen in about 3510-3515_> Since none of the others had anything even resembling a camera, it was reluctantly decided that they would simply have to memorise as much as possible then get Elenbay to draw some pictures when they got back. They hurriedly set to work and were just preparing to commit Dana's version of a prom night hairdo to memory when Wufei fell through the racks of clothing, having evidently got a little too close. Several garments fell on top of him, and it was perhaps this that led Dana to allow Duo to escape as she shrieked:   
"Oh, Wufei, that's really _you!_ Hold on a minute, I bet this'd go perfectly with it... yes!" 

/\/\/\

"Well, how did you like the shopping trip?" Rain asked sarcastically as the group met up and prepared to go home, it having been decided that the girls could stay with the boys until further notice, or until they got back to World War Three, whichever happened sooner. Three glares and two rather shifty looks were her only reply. "Personally, I think Duo looks especially pretty." The glare of said male intensified; to his horror, Duo had discovered that his hair was too tangled to braid and that his hair was going to have to stay in its glamorous style until he could get hold of a hairbrush. "And Wufei, I must say that I really think the pink suits you. Those four red dots, too... really... uhm... Dana, what's a good word?"   
"Bring out his inner emotional clashes," Dana supplied.   
"`Clashes` sounds about right," Charamei muttered. "Dana, where do you get this stuff from? You haven't even known him a week!" 

/\/\/\

The moment `home` was reached, Wufei began to run for his wardrobe, but tripped over the curb and was accidentally trodden on by Duo, who was running for his hairbrush. Passers-by stared unashamedly. 

The girls were still arguing as they spilled into the house, though it had now degenerated to old vengeances and good-natured sniping, neither of which were particularly uncommon. In fact, they were so wound up in their argument that they barely noticed when they were asked - politely - if they would be so good as to make dinner, a request which would normally have put them on their guard immediately when coming from a member of the opposite sex. 

The next morning when the same thing happened, they started to notice something. But when, straight after breakfast, one boy after to other walked up to the girls and dumped a pile of dirty linen on them, they were unanimous; chauvinists at sixteen needed to be taught a lesson, and to be taught it quickly. 


End file.
